PFF yet to get NOC for India and Mauritius tours

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalization Committee (NC) has been asked to furnish all the required documents recently submitted with the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to seek NOC for the tours of India and Mauritius. Talking to 'The News', a PSB official confirmed that documents were recently submitted with the PSB which lacked the required information for issuance of NOC to tour abroad, especially when it comes to playing in India.

“The team is to take a trip to India for the South Asian Football Championship. You need a special NOC for the tour to India and besides the Interior Ministry, the permission from the Foreign Office will also be required. The submitted papers lacked required documents and information. In fact, these documents were more about sharing information rather than seeking NOC from the government. We have asked them to submit fresh documents,” the PSB official said. He claimed that there is a set procedure and a timeframe for seeking NOC which should be followed. “There is a set procedure for seeking NOC. Every federation will have to follow this. When it comes to touring India, the requirement gets even tougher,” he said.

A national camp is already in progress to prepare the men's football team for the tours. Besides playing SAFF Championship 2023 scheduled to be held in Bengaluru, India, from June 22, Pakistan players are also preparing for a four-nations cup in Mauritius.

When Shahid Khokhar, one of the NC members, was approached late Thursday evening, he said that fresh documents fulfilling all the requirements had been submitted with the PSB Thursday.

“We have deputed a special representative who has told me that all the required information has been submitted with the PSB. There is an urgent need to issue NOC at the earliest as the team is to leave for Mauritius on June 8. Now when all the required documents have been submitted with the PSB, we hope to get NOC shortly,” he said. The Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) chairman Nawab Sher Waseer during his recent inter-action with the NC Committee head Haroon Malik was critical of non-compliance of laid down rules. “The PSB has communicated that no NOC had been sought before taking a trip abroad recently. This is a clear violation of the laid down rules. No such violation will be tolerated in future,” Nawab Sher told Malik.

The 28 players that started training at the Punjab Stadium, Lahore, from Thursday are: Goalkeepers: Saqib Hanif, Salman ul Haq, Abdul Basit and Yousaf Ijaz Butt Defenders: Umar Hayat, Ali Khan Niazi, Muhammad Sufyan, Umer Saeed, Mamoon Moosa Khan, Abdullah Shah, Haseeb Ahmed Khan, Sardar Wali, Sohail, Easah Suliman and Abdullah Iqbal

Midfielders: Alamgir Ali Khan Ghazi, Ali Uzair Mahmood, Moin Ahmed, Shayak Dost, Waleed Khan, Rahis Nabi, Harun Arrashid Faheem Hamid, Umair Ali and Adnan Yaqoob Forwards: Abdul Samad Shahzad, Otis Jan Mohammad Khan, Hassan Naweed Bashir and Muhammad Waheed